Catch up!

Me this morning, "I should pay attention to my bloggy. It's been a week or so." Log on and lo and behold - holy shnikes it's been 19 days!! In my own defense I've been working 50 hours a week and that doesn't leave a lot of energy at the end of the day for my poor bloggy. So, Bloggy, I'm sorry I neglected you!! I shall now overflow you with loveliness! 

Guess I have to go back a few designs and stories to catch up. I did two different St. Patrick's day designs this year. I have a small handful of truly amazing greens and I couldn't narrow it completely down to one. The first design I did was Shamrock & Roll by Contrary Polish, with Charming by Bliss Polish on my accent nail. I love that they are both simple colors with gold flecks. 

Simple but rich with the holiday theme!! :p

I wore this design from Friday until Monday night, when the big green and gold guns came out! I am in love with this next design. I couldn't stop staring at my nails!!

Obviously these are both from Pahlish (who makes LUSCIOUS polish) and their formula is so easy to work with, even as riddled with glitter as these are! The gold is Fields of Gold, which came from the March A Box, Indied by Llarowe. The green is Emerald Cedars, also purchased through Llarowe. Chevron vinyls from NailVinyls.com, and studs from I have no idea. I've collected a lot of studs and haven't been great about keeping track of where they came from! They were a bit big for my nail beds and the studs didn't last very long. Overall look was still awesome though and this lasted a few days!

Shortly after St. Patrick's day I received some eagerly awaiting nail mail from one of my favorites, Loaded Lacquer. Instead of the glitter toppers I usually buy, this time I tried out her holos. O.M.G. they are wonderful. 

The black is Condemned and the red is Double Shot of Sriracha. Starburst vinyls from NailVinyls.com again, and Glisten and Glow's HK Girl as a topcoat. This one was fun and easy!

A shopping trip yielding a beautiful white dress with green flowers inspired my next mani. (Eva Mendes for New York & Co., every piece is drool worthy!)

This features double stamping of Cult Nails Flash and Model's Own Chrome Rose over China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around. Can't see it in this pic but the white from China Glaze has a lovely shimmer to it. Stamping plate is #76 from Pueen Cosmetics. 

Last but not least, I was dying to try my delivery from a new to me brand, Polish 'M. This is Neutral Party with For Peeps Sake from Glisten and Glow's Easter Mystery Duo, and Rayne from Zoya's Delight collection. Chevron vinyls by, you guessed it, NailVinyls.com! 

I originally had this as just straight polish on each nail, but I just can't leave well enough alone so this morning I added the sideways chevron touches. I think it looks like Easter eggs on my nails which is too cute!

The only other exciting nail news from the last couple of weeks is that I FINALLY got my swatch sticks in to get caught up! I never expected to run out but this new year brought a few more polish indulgences than I anticipated. :) 

200 came in, 100 used already to get caught up... I don't expect to need them but I went ahead and ordered a few more already, ya know, just in case!

Still trying to decide how I want to sort these. I keep them corralled on ball bearing chains and previously I just did rainbow order. I don't think that's going to work quite as well with double the number of sticks. Hmm, this is going to take some dwelling.

Phew! That was a lot of catch up!
Until next time!!

Indecision leads to many polish changes!

Sometimes I get so excited for a polish that I can't wait to slap it on my nails!! And I should.... I have a slightly sad review and two looks to catch you up on my nail activity for the last few days. 

I ordered a few polishes from Duh-Nail Polish and they arrived on Saturday to my great excitement. They are so lovely in the bottles and I'd read nice things so I decided that I had to stop right away and polish up. In a weird twist of events my nails were bare for about 24 hours and I just couldn't handle it another MINUTE!

Key to My Heart; Love... Psshhh; Sweater Weather; Not Irish, Kiss Me Anyway

Freaking AWESOME, right?! I know the flash is crazy but it shows the sparkles the best. So, another design worm I've had stuck is a dark with glitter/flakies with a matte coat and that Love...Psshhh looked perfect. Alas...not so much. I've got to allow for my own impatience to have contributed to the less than stellar results. I pulled them from the mailbox and opened it within an hour. It was 60+ degrees so I didn't think any thawing was particularly needed, but I might have been wrong. The formula was less than great. Gummed up quickly and was hard to get even coats.  

Here it is after 2 coats. It's a fine looking black, but I couldn't see the flakes in it at all. Much sadness. The next part that went wrong is completely my fault - I forgot that matte top coats are not quick dry, and I am so used to complete nail freedom in 10 minutes or less that I was denting and dinging like mad. Dang it. 

Again, nice looking as a basic black but not the wow I hoped for. I blame myself for not loving this and I'm definitely still excited to try the others I got from Duh. Heehee, their name is Duh HOW CUTE IS THAT!!??!!

As a side note, even if not a soul reads this blog it's already served as massive inspiration to me to try all my polishes and the ideas that are floating in my noggin. 

Next up, because that tragic blackness lasted all of a couple hours, was a mint and glitter topper combo. I was inspired to do this by @nailstorming. I just love her designs and this was one that I could actually pull off! A lot of her stuff involves fine painting and acrylic paint and that is not a gift that nature felt I needed. My freehand painting might as well have been done by a blind baboon with his foot. 

Anyhoozits. Mint, with topper. I bought Mintallica (and a few other glitter toppers) from Loaded Lacquer a month or so ago and I've been seriously eager to test them out. I started with 3 thin coats of Keep Calm, Paint On from China Glaze - my favorite big brand - and then sponged the glitter onto the tips of my nails. Mintallica is a grab bag of amazing! It's multi-size, shape, and color glitter that goes together beautifully. Mints and silvers and grays...wait for it...oh my! I've never tried the sponging technique for glitter toppers and let me tell you, awesome payoff! The Loaded Lacquers are so easy to apply anyway, and the sponging let me exactly place the glitter. 

Look at that! LOOK AT IT!! Okay, sorry. I'm okay. I just love how this turned out - all glittery and shiny and minty. This got me through Saturday, Sunday, and most of today.

Last look for now and it's an easy one! This is Unconditional Love from F.U.N. Lacquer. I gushed about these in my last post and I really wanted to see the color shift and sparkle on my nails. Stupid swatch sticks aren't here yet....grrr....

First time my awkward hand poses worked out! Look at that gorgeous color shift!! The olive to pink with the glitter mixed in - purrrrrr. Happy place, I'm in my happy place. This is two coats with Seche Vite on top. Applied like a dream; first coat was pretty sheer but it built to opaque easily with the second coat.

Phew! That's a buncha polish changes in only a couple days! 

Time for beddies. Until next time!

Happy Nail Mail!!

Happy Wednesday!! 

One of my coworkers likes to joke that I need a nail polish intervention... If it involves me saying I have too many polishes than I REFUSE!! I'll stop buying when brands stop coming out with such lovely sparklies!!

Today was extra happy as three orders came in at once. As though the nail polish gods lined up and decided that I needed an over load of SQUEEEE.

I am a sucker for adorable packaging, so I had to stop and snap this before I really got into the goodies. How cute are these??? Not only does it feel like Christmas but the wrapping adds to the effect.

I broke down and bought a selection of F.U.N. Lacquers from Live Love Polish. These were a true treat to myself as they are a bit more per bottle than I'm usually comfy paying. However, after I missed most of the New Years 2015 collection, I tried to grab some of the Love 2015s. Some of those bad boys were sold out already too so I was "forced" to supplement with a couple of remaining in stock New Years colors. Oh darn. How will I get by. :p I love that they come in their own boxes, but I had to pitch those puppies as they had no cut outs to show what's inside and I'm not about to open each one each time. Yes, they have the name on the box, but I think I will benefit mentally from seeing them in all their glory when I open the drawer they're in! Ooooo, SHINY.

From fabulous B Squared Lacquer I got 3 fall toned holos. These go with the Sugar Plum I used in last night's post and I know for certain that I won't be able to wait for the other side of summer to let these beauties sparkle on my nails!

Are you familiar with A Box, Indied? Llarowe.com offers this amazing magic every month where 5 indie makers each contribute an exclusive polish to this box. There's a subscription (currently sold out) or you can buy the boxes individually if you manage to snag them when/if they're available. This March one was only in stock a day or so according to my shop stalking. They've gotten so popular I didn't think I was going to get my hands on this month's and I hit "add to cart" so fast when I saw it available!

L-R: Endless Rainbows, Magically Delicious, Serendipity, Shamrock & Roll, Fields of Gold

Last, but I cannot stress how not least, is this amazing beauty from Different Dimension. This is Discovery from the One Small Step collection. There is not a thesaurus with enough adjectives for "shiny" and "love" for me to try and describe how much I adore this polish. I can't WAIT to swatch it and find some amazing design for it on my nails. Truly it's so lovely that it could be a case of nothing but this polish on and still my nails will look like works of art.  

Phew! I'm exhausted from all this drooling!! Until next time! xoxo

When a Tuesday deserves some sparkle

Happy Tuesday!!

After a 12+ hour work day, I reallllly needed some me time and it was all about switching out my polish. I have a handful of ideas and color combos stuck in my head and tonight I got to get a lovely and basic one off the list. 

I do think it would be nifty for a little step by step and my trusty smartphone was nearby so here goes. (Pics aren't the greatest quality, I did forget the flash settings were tweaked.)

When it's time for some creative outpouring, I head to the room where my beloved Helmers sit. I have two, neither of which is full, one for supplies and one for polish. I may pet them occasionally, no judging! 

The organizational nitpick inside my head does have my polish all listed in a spreadsheet, but that can't compare to my joy when I just open those drawers up!

Purrrrrrrr! Okay, FOCUS!! 

So I gather my supplies for whatever the plan is. Base coat (remember I wear my polish for a few days so this is a must), colors, clean up supplies, embellishments, top coat, my trusty beat-up tv tray that I paint on. :) 

Time to remove the "old" stuff. I believe in the soak. I get acetone on a cotton wipe, let it sit for a few seconds on each nail, and wipe most of it right off. Fast, easy, lil rough on the skin but meh. Any shaping needed with a glass file - just got mine from Delush and it's quite rad!

Little base coat action, I'm a big fan of Seche Clear. I get very mild staining from wearing polish all the time, but the Seche is the best I've seen to battle that and the wear on my nails from application and removal. 

Time for the best part!! I have what I've been told is a strange approach to the painting. I am not ambidextrous so I can struggle with painting with my left hand. So I paint with it first and here are a couple of reasons for my logic. First, my right hand is so much more coordinated that it can handle painting with wet nails while that adds a layer of difficulty for my left - paint with it first and that issue is gone. Second, I tend to have slightly heavier coats with the left hand and this gives the right nails more time to dry between steps if there's nail art to follow. 

Tonight I used two polishes from B Squared Lacquer. I. Love. Her. Stuff. I used Sugar Plum, a luscious plum holo, on all nails; and Masquerade, which is a gold with some multi-colored bits mixed in, on accent nails marked off with Darya vinyls from TwinkledT. I topped the first round with Glisten & Glow's HK Girl because it dries so fast and protects the polish from the vinyls.

Way to hold the bottle correctly self!

I don't think this technique needs a lot of instruction, but let me add one...little...bitty...thing... Have patience and let the top coat dry before you put the vinyl on....

I don't want to talk about it. ;) Oh well!! A little careful removal and this time I let an entire rerun of Big Bang Theory play between top coat and vinyl application!

Okay an episode of Big Bang Theory and writing this post - so here's a rare shot of that right hand! I love how this looks and it's so easy to do. Always feels like intricate art even when the tools exist to make it simple as can be. 

That sufficiently satisfied my me time! Enjoy the rest of your week and hope all your nails are sparkly!

So it begins...

Well, here I go I guess! Time to take this obsession to it's next level. 

Thank you for reading this! I wish I can make promises about what this is going to represent and how we're going to be lifelong friends and I'll have brand new nails for you every day - but that's not a guarantee I can make! Let's see how this goes!

Here's what I do know: I love to write and I love to paint my nails and I'm shmeh at photography but good enough I suppose. So I shall share these things with those wanting to be inspired! Or...at least those wanting to pass a few minutes reading a little blog and looking at pictures. :) 

The obligatory background story is that my name is Cyndi, I am in my "early" 30s ;) and I work full time as a business manager for a construction company. Side note about that part - I work with paper all day in a desert. I do my best as far as skin/cuticle care, but I know going into this that it's super likely there will be pics where someone looks at my cuticles and judges me for their appearance - I'll tell you right now, I don't care. I do what I can but I'm a real person with real skin and I don't want the inevitable shot I post with ugly cuticles or paper cuts on my fingers to be a deterrent. It's just part of being human. Okay end rant. 

The only other thing I want to say in the beginning is that I love to wear my polish outside! So I don't change my nails every day and (so far) I haven't begun the habit of swatching whole collections on my nails back to back. I swatch on sample sticks, not my nails. That's not to say if I get my hands on a fantastic collection I won't, but...let's see where that takes us!

I shall leave you with a shot from a few weeks ago (my Valentine's nail actually) that I discovered I forgot to put on my Instagram account. 

This is Barry M in Coconut (fabulous white!) with Black Cat Lacquer's Candy is Dandy layered over it and single chevrons from NailVinyls.com. Candy is Dandy is from the Llarowe February A Box, Indied, which as of two minutes ago was still available for purchase! Topcoat is Glisten & Glow's HK Girl which is the VERY BEST topcoat for nail art as it never smears!

Thanks again for reading, until next time!